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Books > Humanities > Archaeology > General
Archaeological research on interregional interaction processes has
recently reasserted itself after a long hiatus following the
eclipse of diffusion studies. This "rebirth" was marked not only by
a sudden increase in publications that were focused on interac tion
questions, but also by a diversity of perspectives on past
contacts. To perdurable interests in warfare were added trade
studies by the late 196Os. These viewpoints, in turn, were rapidly
joined in the late 1970s by a wide range of intellectual schemes
stimulated by developments in French Marxism (referred to in
various ways; termed political ideology here) and sociology
(Immanuel Wallerstein's world-systems model). Researchers ascribing
to the aforementioned intellectual frameworks were united in their
dissatisfaction with attempts to explain sociopolitical change that
treated in dividual cultures or societies as isolated entities.
Only by reconstructing the complex intersocietal networks in which
polities were integrated-the natures of these ties, who mediated
the connections, and the political, economic, and ideological
significance of the goods and ideas that moved along them-could
adequate ex planations of sociopolitical shifts be formulated.
Archaeologists seemed to be re discovering in the late twentieth
century the importance of interregional contacts in processes of
sociopolitical change. The diversity of perspectives that resulted
seemed to be symptomatic of both an uncertainty of how best to
approach this topic and the importance archaeologists attributed to
it."
An attempt to use archaeological materials to investigate the
colonization of southeastern Africa during the period 1500 to 1900.
Perry demonstrates the usefulness of archaeology in bypassing the
biases of the ethnohistorical and documentary record and generating
a more comprehensive understanding of history. Special attention is
paid to the period of state formation in Swaziland and a critique
of the Settler Model', which the author finds to be invalid.
The origins and development of civilization are vital components
to the understanding of the cultural processes that create human
societies. Comparing and contrasting the evolutionary sequences
from different civilizations is one approach to discovering their
unique development. One area for comparison is in the Central Andes
where several societies remained in isolation without a written
language. As a direct result, the only resource to understand these
societies is their material artifacts.
In this second volume, the focus is on the art and landscape
remains and what they uncover about societies of the Central Andes
region. The ancient art and landscape, revealing the range and
richness of the societies of the area significantly shaped the
development of Andean archaeology. This work includes discussions
on:
- pottery and textiles;
- iconography and symbols;
- ideology;
- geoglyphs and rock art.This volume will be of interest to Andean
archaeologists, cultural and historical anthropologists, material
archaeologists and Latin American historians.
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I Love Trains
(Hardcover)
Joann a Quitmeyer; Photographs by Wallace D Quitmeyer
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R657
Discovery Miles 6 570
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Ships in 18 - 22 working days
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This book constitutes a major reassessment of the mortuary remains
from the two X-Group royal cemeteries at Qustul and Ballana in
Lower Nubia (c. AD 380-500). Since their excavation more than
seventy years ago, and the subsequent flooding of the sites
following the building of the Aswan High Dam, and despite the
spectacular nature of the finds, the sites have received remarkably
little scholarly attention. This book offers the first
interpretation of social life at these key sites, and proposes a
series of innovative, theoretically informed frames for exploring
the significance of the material remains found there. In doing so,
it sheds new light on a culture which, although less well known
than the Meroitic Empire that preceded it and the subsequent
development of the Christian Kingdoms of the Sudan, is nevertheless
of considerable archaeological and historical significance. The
sites present a series of archaeologically unique monumental tumuli
and multi-chambered tomb structures containing evidence of human
and animal sacrifice, as well as a highly sophisticated material
culture. The interpretations presented here draw on the emergent
field of sensory archaeology to address the key issue of identity
formation. It makes a case for the heretofore unrecognised
significance of an 'aesthetic' identity mediated by material
culture. It approaches X-Group culture as a materially complex
indigenous culture that created and altered identities through time
via the manipulation of materials, colours and patterns (the
'aesthetic' basis of identity). This study explores the
relationships between humans, animals, and artefacts. It
demonstrates how a less stable society, which based control on
aggressive public displays, became a more stable state, as power
was mediated by magico-ritual performances, festal occasions, and
the rise of certain individuals. The interpretations put forward
here are based on a systematic quantitative analysis of the
archaeological material from the sites. These analyses draw on
complex typologies differentiating objects according to use, ware,
colour, decoration method, designs, surface finish, contents,
grafitto, location in a tomb, location near a body, etc. Such a
quantification and synthesis of tens of thousands of individual
pieces of data enabled the identification of key trends in the
dataset--the empirical basis for the modelling of socio-political
change undertaken here. The study was undertaken to combat the
limited and unsatisfactory set of questions posed by previous
debates about the activities at Qustul and Ballana. It constitutes
a significant departure from previous work which restricted the
discussion of life at the sites to a limited debate about the
identity of tribal groups and the chronology of activity at the
sites. In contrast, this research demonstrates that the way in
which the X-Group(s) dynamically created, maintained, and altered
their identity through various forms of praxis. The book is
essential reading for anybody researching ancient Sudanese
civilisations. It has a wider appeal for researchers and graduate
students interested in new developments in approaches to the
archaeology of North-East Africa. It also has a broader appeal to
all those interested in the theorisation of identity, the practical
application of archaeological theory to the study of material
culture and the human relationship to the sensory nature of the
sensory world.
Profusley illustrated with full color and black and white
illustrations, maps and photographs. Center of Military History
publication CMH Pub. 30-21. Army Historical Series. Richard W.
Stewart, General Editor. Revision of the 1989 edition which was a
revision of a textbook written for the senior ROTC courses.
Contains an historical survey of the organization and
accomplishments of the United States Army. Designed to inculcate in
young officers and soldiers an awareness of our nation's military
past and to demonstrate to them that the study of military history
is an essential ingredient in leadership development. Intended
primarily for use in the American Military History course in the
Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in civilian colleges and
universities.
During the fall of 1968 and the summer of 1969, William Kelso
conducted archaeological excavations at the site of
eighteenth-century ruins at Wormslow, near Savannah, Georgia.
Historical records indicated that the ruins were the remains of
Fort Wimberly, most likely constructed by Noble Jones, an original
settler of Georgia. Records further suggested that Fort Wimberly
had been constructed on the site of Jones's earlier fortification,
a timber guardhouse known as Jones's Fort, built in 1739 and 1740.
The existence of these two structures, built at different times on
the same location, made possible an archaeological study of two
periods of Georgia coastal fortifications. The earlier was built as
a major link in General James Oglethorpe's chain of defenses
against the Spanish threat from Florida in the 1740s and the later
presumably was built to repel the French. The project also
presented another important opportunity--the chance to define what
effect the semitropical, hostile border environment of colonial
Georgia had on the plantation development scheme of at least one
English settler. Mr. Kelso's report of his excavations begins with
a documentary history of Wormslow, followed by a presentation of
the archaeological evidence that correlates it with the historical
documents. Ultimately he reconstructs the site based on the
historical and archaeological evidence, an architectural study of
the ruins, and information about early Georgia architecture in
general and other eighteenth-century buildings in particular. The
report concludes with a detailed study of the artifacts with
illustrations, descriptions, and identifications of the important
pieces.
Students of human behavior have always been interested in the
relationship between human populations and their environment.
Decades of research not only have illuminated the backdrop against
which culture is viewed, but have identi fied many of the
conditions that influence or promote technological develop ment,
social transformation, and economic reorganization. It has become
in creaSingly evident, however, that if we are to explore more
forcefully the linkages between culture and environment, a
processual orientation is required. This is found in human
ecology-the study of the relationship between people and the
ecosystem of which they are a part. This book is a collection of
papers about the recent and distant past by scientists and
humanists involved in the study of human ecology in northeastern
North America. The authors critically examine the systemic
interface between people and their environment first by identifying
the indicators of that rela tionship (e.g., historical
documentation, archaeological site patterning, faunal remains),
then by defining the processes by which change in one part of the
ecosystem affects other parts (e.g., by conSidering how an ecotonal
gradient affects biotic communities over time), and finally by
explicating the behavioral implications thereof."
This practical volume, the first book in the Manuals in
Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique series, examines in
detail the factors that affect archaeological detectability in
surveys whose methods range from visual to remote sensing in land,
underwater, and intertidal zones - furnishing a comprehensive
treatment of prospection, parameter estimation, model building, and
detection of spatial structure.
What is the archaeology of the body and how can it change the
way we experience the past? This book, one of the first to appear
on the subject, records and evaluates the emergence of this new
direction of cross-disciplinary research, and examines the
potential of incorporating some of its insights into archaeology.
It will be of interest to students, researchers, and teachers in
archaeology, as well as in cognate disciplines such as anthropology
and history.
The last 20 years have witnessed a proliferation of new approaches
in archaeolog ical data recovery, analysis, and theory building
that incorporate both new forms of information and new methods for
investigating them. The growing importance of survey has meant an
expansion of the spatial realm of traditional archaeological data
recovery and analysis from its traditional focus on specific
locations on the landscape-archaeological sites-to the
incorporation of data both on-site and off-site from across
extensive regions. Evolving survey methods have led to experiments
with nonsite and distributional data recovery as well as the
critical evaluation of the definition and role of archaeological
sites in data recovery and analysis. In both survey and excavation,
the geomorphological analysis of land scapes has become
increasingly important in the analysis of archaeological ma
terials. Ethnoarchaeology-the use of ethnography to sharpen
archaeological understanding of cultural and natural formation
processes-has concentrated study on the formation processes
underlying the content and structure of archae ological deposits.
These actualistic studies consider patterns of deposition at the
site level and the material results of human organization at the
regional scale. Ethnoarchaeological approaches have also affected
research in theoretical ways by expanding investigation into the
nature and organization of systems of land use per se, thus
providing direction for further study of the material results of
those systems."
Flashes in the Night captures the tragic story of the sinking of
M/S Estonia in dark, cold Baltic waters on September 28, 1994.
Caught in a storm during an overnight trip between Tallinn,
Estonia, and Stockholm, Sweden, the ship sank in a matter of
minutes. Debate continues over whether the cause was structural or
sabotage, but the fact remains 852 souls were lost at sea in
Europe's worst civilian disaster. Nearly one-third of those who
escaped the ship died of hypothermia. A twenty-nine-year-old
Swedish entrepreneur and a pretty nineteen-year-old Swedish girl
are a major focus of this dramatic account. On that night when Kent
Harstedt met Sara Hedrenius on the top rail of the sinking ship,
they made a date for dinner in Stockholm-if they survived. Through
that endless darkness, huddled in near-freezing water in their
raft, they told each other jokes to stay awake and alive. Their
date made world headlines. This is their story, and the story of
the young British adventurer Paul Barney, along with riveting
accounts of others who were a part of this harrowing life-or-death
survival epic.
Documentary filmmaker Peter Pepe and historical archaeologist
Joseph W. Zarzynski provide a concise guide to filmmaking designed
to help archaeologists navigate the unfamiliar world of documentary
film. They offer a step-by-step description of the process of
making a documentary, everything from initial pitches to production
companies to final cuts in the editing. Using examples from their
own award-winning documentaries, they focus on the needs of the
archaeologist: Where do you fit in the project? What is expected of
you? How can you help your documentarian partner? The authors
provide guidance on finding funding, establishing budgets, writing
scripts, interviewing, and numerous other tasks required to produce
and distribute a film. Whether you intend to sell a special to
National Geographic or churn out a brief clip to run at the local
museum, read this book before you start.
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